I have an upright freezer that is self defrosting. Works good but get a lot of freezer burn and iceing (sp) on my garden stuff I freeze. Bags of beans, corn or whatever with liquid seems the worst. Would that be solved by getting a freezer that is not self defrosting? Wonder if the cycling of temperatures to defrost is doing it? Really like the upright compared to a chest type. Thanks.

We've solved the majority of our freezer burn problems by using a vacuum sealer. Food Saver is a good household brand. It may seem a bit expensive up front, but you can buy bags on-line cheap, and the food you save is worth it.

They're great! Before we got our boat, our neighbor gave us several packages of panfish that were going on 2 years old. The ones vacuum packed were fine. The ones he used the Zip-Loc vacuum thingy were gone...

Thanks all. Putting up "garden stuff" is work enough without it being spoiled by freezer burn. I had thought about a vacume sealer but read they didn't work well with liquid. Green beans, sweet corn, turnip greens etc. Will look at the website for that brand. Guess I'll sell my self defrost and get the other. Looks like I will have to order it, not carried in my local stores. Only self defrost.

Green beans, sweet corn, turnip greens etc., vacuum pack very well. You only have to drain them after blanching. As I said, we pack hot peppers dry. They hold up great! About the only veg I don't think will pack well is tomatoes.(because of the juice) Those, we pack in the hard disposable containers. Gotta fill them to the brim, much like canning.